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🎤 QUICK START ✍️

📉 Losing ground. Pat McAfee's approval rating on College GameDay hit an all-time low in The Athletic's annual survey, with 49.5% of respondents saying they don't like him on the show. That's up from 48.9% in 2023 and 42.5% in 2024, suggesting the WWE-style endings and field-goal contests aren't winning over skeptics despite GameDay setting viewership records this season.

📺 Homework undone. Andrew Marchand called out Tony Romo for appearing unprepared during Sunday's Bills-Jaguars Wild Card broadcast, saying the $17.5 million CBS analyst "doesn't appear as if he does the homework."

🎤 Press conference kindness. Lynn Jones defended herself after congratulating Jaguars coach Liam Coen in a postgame press conference, sparking debate about journalism standards. The Jacksonville Free Press associate editor and 25-year veteran told critics who called her "fake media" that she's a member of the Black Press, which has been around more than 100 years, adding, "You can call me fake all you want to, honey."

⏰ Scheduling complaints. Tony Dungy called NFL playoff scheduling "not fair" in a lengthy post on X, pointing out the Rams and Bears get an extra day of rest before their divisional round matchup while Buffalo and San Francisco play on short weeks. The NBC analyst blamed ESPN's Monday night Wild Card games for creating competitive disadvantages that the league specifically eliminated during the regular season.

🚪 No comment. A.J. Brown ducked reporters following Philadelphia's Wild Card loss to San Francisco, telling a group of journalists, "I'm about to go" after shaking hands with teammates. The decision came after Brown was involved in a sideline argument with Nick Sirianni and dropped a key catch on the Eagles' final drive.

💊 Chief Wellness Officer. Tom Brady joined telehealth startup eMed as Chief Wellness Officer to help sell GLP-1 weight loss medications, adding to a resume that already includes a failed NFT startup, a Delta Airlines strategic advisor role, and fronting a Saudi Arabian flag football tournament. The irony wasn't lost on anyone that the seven-time Super Bowl champion who never needed weight-loss drugs is now the face of them while simultaneously appearing in Pizza Hut commercials.

🚨 LEADING OFF 🚨

Pat McAfee hates journalists because he hates accountability

Pat McAfee spent Monday morning attacking sports journalists as people who hate sports, which is a hell of a thing to hear from someone whose entire career depends on the work they do.

The ESPN host posted a lengthy rant attacking sports "journalists" as "curmudgeon bums" who "hate sports" and are "political journalists by nature who've preyed on sports because they saw it as an easier path." He celebrated his show operating with "ZERO creative say from any journalism school puppets" and declared their "days are numbered."

McAfee's outburst came after Lynn Jones offered Jaguars head coach Liam Coen words of encouragement during a difficult moment, prompting McAfee to contrast "actual journalism" with the profession he spent six paragraphs saying needs to be destroyed.

Here's what McAfee wants you to believe: Sports journalists are joyless losers who hate what sports represent, while his show delivers pure, unfiltered authenticity that celebrates the games we love.

The reality is considerably more complicated, and McAfee knows it.

The "journalism school puppets" he dismisses are the people who ask follow-up questions when stories don't add up. They're the reporters who fact-check claims before amplifying them to millions. They're the writers who examine uncomfortable truths about leagues, teams, and media figures, rather than treating sports as pure escapism that requires no critical examination.

McAfee's show operates without those constraints, which is why it spreads vaccine misinformation from Aaron Rodgers, platforms conspiracy theories without pushback, and gets basic facts wrong with alarming regularity. When journalism school teaches verification and accuracy, McAfee calls it censorship. When reporters point out errors, he frames it as an attack.

The irony of positioning himself as the sports' great defender while attacking the people who cover it is apparently lost on McAfee. Journalists don't hate sports. They love sports enough to examine them honestly, which sometimes means writing stories that powerful people would prefer stayed buried. That's not destroying sports, but rather protecting them from the people who would turn coverage into pure promotion.

McAfee's celebration of operating with "ZERO creative say" from anyone with journalism training isn't the flex he thinks it is. It's an admission that his show prioritizes entertainment over accuracy, access over accountability, and vibes over verification. Those are fine priorities for a talk show. They're terrible priorities for an entity that bills itself as essential sports coverage.

The false choice McAfee creates — either you're a cheerleader who loves sports, or you're a joyless journalist trying to destroy them — insults everyone involved. Journalists who spent decades building credibility didn't do it because they hate sports. They did it because they care enough about sports to cover them with the seriousness the subject deserves.

McAfee praised Jones — who offered Liam Coen words of encouragement — as proof that actual journalism still exists. But if Jones had asked Coen why the Jaguars' offense collapsed, or whether coaching decisions contributed to the loss, McAfee would have called her a curmudgeon who hates sports. The only journalism McAfee celebrates is journalism that never makes anyone uncomfortable.

That's not journalism. That's public relations.

McAfee wants sports coverage that operates like his show. He wants entertaining personalities delivering content that makes everyone feel good, with no uncomfortable questions and no accountability when things go wrong. He's entitled to want that. He's not entitled to pretend it's a superior model to actual journalism.

The sports media landscape has changed. Personalities matter more than beats. Access matters more than independence. Entertainment value matters more than accuracy. McAfee didn't cause those shifts, but he's the most prominent beneficiary of them, and his success depends on people believing that the old model deserved to die.

The old model had problems. Beat writers who got too cozy with teams. Insiders who protected sources at the expense of stories. Columnists who used their platforms for personal vendettas. But the solution to journalism's flaws isn't to eliminate journalism — it's to demand better journalism.

McAfee's vision eliminates the adversarial relationship between media and subjects entirely. Everyone's on the same team. Nobody asks uncomfortable questions. The show goes on, and if you point out contradictions or factual errors, you're dismissed as a bitter journalist whose days are numbered.

That model works great for McAfee. It's considerably less useful for audiences who want sports coverage that does more than tell them everything's great.

The "journalism school puppets" McAfee dismisses are the people who would have asked questions when his show initially shared information that turned out to be wrong. They're the reporters who would have examined the contradictions in his own statements about ESPN's editorial control. They're the journalists who would have noted that someone celebrating the death of journalism seems remarkably dependent on journalists for content.

He doesn't want to give them credit for it, because acknowledging journalism's value would undermine his entire premise that sports media improved once shows started operating with "ZERO creative say" from people trained in accuracy and verification.

The future McAfee envisions — where personalities replace reporters and entertainment replaces accountability — isn't better for audiences. It's better for the powerful people who prefer not to answer uncomfortable questions. It's better for leagues that want coverage without criticism. It's better for media figures who want attention without scrutiny.

It's worse for everyone else.

Sports journalism isn't dying because journalists hate sports. It's struggling because people like McAfee decided that any journalism he can't control represents an existential threat to his model.

The real question isn't whether sports journalists' "days are numbered." It's whether audiences eventually notice that the model replacing them delivers entertainment without accuracy, access without accountability, and cheerleading without courage.

McAfee built his career by being himself without a filter. That's admirable. But somewhere along the way, he convinced himself that everyone who operates differently must be operating in bad faith. Journalists who fact-check don't hate sports. Reporters who ask hard questions don't want to destroy what sports represent. Writers who examine uncomfortable truths aren't political operatives who picked an easier path.

They're just doing journalism. And McAfee's show wouldn't exist without them.

🎺 AROUND AA 🎺

Paul Finebaum threatened to leave America if an SEC team didn't win the national championship, which means it's time to help him figure out where to go.

Awful Announcing's Demetri Ravanos took Finebaum at his word and mapped out five international sports cultures where the SEC Network host could thrive. From Canadian junior hockey to EuroBasket to AFTV's Arsenal coverage, Ravanos identifies environments where passionate, occasionally unhinged fanbases argue about sports with the same intensity that makes Finebaum's show work in the South.

The best match? South African rugby, where crowds are massive, teams make up their own criteria to claim championships, and there's a real "us vs. them" nature to games. Sound familiar? Finebaum could walk into any broadcaster in Italy and say, "Let me tell you about the Alabama Crimson Tide," and Ferrari fans would instantly recognize a kindred spirit.

Click to read the full piece on where Finebaum should pack his bags—assuming he's actually leaving, of course.

👏 INDUSTRY INSIGHTS 🗣️

• The Big Ten is willing to accept a 16-team playoff for 2026 on one condition: the SEC commits to a 24-team format within two to three years. The conference wants to use the compromise as leverage to secure an expanded field, potentially without automatic qualifiers, ahead of the Jan. 23 deadline for the new format. Greg Sankey may be open to 24 teams if it eliminates automatic bids, though such a shift would require conferences to overhaul their postseasons and potentially eliminate championship games.

• ESPN's takeover of NFL Media could clear regulatory approval as early as April, according to Front Office Sports, with executives recently conducting a site visit of NFL Media's Los Angeles studios. The deal gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network, licensing rights to NFL RedZone, and three additional game broadcasts per season, while the NFL takes a stake in the network. If delayed, the takeover might not happen until Jan. 1, 2027, which would cost ESPN crucial promotional opportunities ahead of its first-ever Super Bowl broadcast next February.

• FIFA partnered with Stats Perform to livestream all 104 matches of the 2026 World Cup to licensed sportsbooks, marking the first time the world's biggest sporting event will be available within betting apps. Users will see a different "world feed" than the one that airs on Fox, which paid billions for exclusive U.S. rights. The move signals sports betting's growing influence, though networks will start to worry if viewing on sportsbook apps becomes popular enough to erode traditional television audiences.

• Paramount filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. Discovery in Delaware Chancery Court and is staging a proxy fight for board seats after WBD rejected its latest takeover bid. CEO David Ellison claims WBD failed to disclose how it valued its Netflix agreement relative to Paramount's $30-per-share all-cash offer, arguing that shareholders lack the information needed to make an informed decision. The company is also preparing to nominate its own candidates for WBD board seats, escalating a hostile takeover attempt that shows no signs of ending.

📣 NOTABLE QUOTABLES 🗣️

"I'll accept the fine at this point. I thought it was some bullsh*t tonight. The inconsistency is f*cking crazy. Give me the fine. I don't know what's going on. I got my conspiracies or whatever." - Celtics star Jaylen Brown unleashing an all-time rant on NBA officials after attempting 28 shots in 43 minutes without getting to the free throw line once against San Antonio, calling out crew chief Curtis Blair by name and teasing a conspiracy theory about officiating against good teams.

"We have to get to a step in women's basketball media where we're not just literally glazing every player. We need to be able to be realistic and honest about the reporting, because you do more harm than good when you're constantly trying to spin a narrative." - Rachel DeMita calling for more honest WNBA coverage amid the league's labor dispute, arguing that positioning Unrivaled as a sustainable alternative creates false perceptions when ratings dropped 16% from last season's opener.

"Romo should not be calling games. This is borderline unwatchable." - Barstool founder Dave Portnoy ripping Tony Romo's Wild Card performance, adding that Greg Olsen should replace him in CBS's top booth after Romo opened Sunday's Bills-Jaguars broadcast with 90 seconds comparing Jacksonville to Carolina while calling them both underdogs and "overdogs."

"If he gets another head coaching job, I'm certainly not going to sneeze at that." - Stephen A. Smith questioning John Harbaugh being viewed as a "savior" despite his Super Bowl ring and 17-year tenure with the Ravens, suggesting teams might hesitate to hire him given his mixed playoff record.

"You know who cares about the credit...Did you not hear the man say he's like Trump running Venezuela?" - Shannon Sharpe explaining why Troy Aikman will never get a Cowboys front office role, referencing comments where Aikman compared Jerry Jones' management style to authoritarian leadership.

"Dude, I'm 11. I'm not supposed to feel like this." - A young Eagles fan going viral after Philadelphia's Wild Card loss to San Francisco, capturing the devastation of watching your team blow a 14-point lead in the playoffs at an age when sports disappointments hit differently.

️‍🔥 THE CLOSER 🔥

Stephen A. Smith's political career is just more Stephen A. Smith

Stephen A. Smith speaks a lot. But he says very little.

That's the central thesis of Awful Announcing's Matt Yoder's latest piece examining Smith's political expansion. For months, the ESPN star has teased a 2028 presidential run while building his empire beyond sports through podcasts, cable news appearances, and SiriusXM shows. He's even been polled with Democrats as a potential challenger for the nomination.

But now that Smith's political career has a body of work, Yoder identifies a familiar pattern: Stephen A. Smith's politics are the exact mirror of his ESPN career. It's all about Stephen A. Smith.

The latest example came with Smith's comments on the tragic ICE shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis. Smith called the shooting "completely justified" while also declaring it "totally unnecessary" in the same monologue—the kind of both-sides stance that lets him claim moderation while saying nothing.

Then came what Smith truly desired: a chance to make it about himself. Smith dedicated a 38-minute video to respond to Keith Olbermann and the New York Post. Thirty-eight minutes. To respond to Keith Olbermann, who hasn't hosted a show on MSNBC since 2011.

As Yoder notes, the pattern is familiar to anyone who's watched First Take: Stephen A. says something controversial, someone calls him out, Stephen A. explodes with a video rant to get the last word. Great content for aggregators. Great theater. But it accomplishes nothing except serving as another platform for Smith to talk about himself.

Smith claims he's a political moderate, but Yoder points out the contradictions: constant teasing of a Democratic run combined with consistent praise of the Trump administration, sitting on The View one day and platforming Candace Owens the next, dismissing the Epstein Files because it's too complex.

"This is not a man serious about running for president or rallying causes," Yoder writes. "He's serving his own ego."

Click to read Matt Yoder's full piece on why Stephen A. Smith is better off talking hockey than politics.